I could see these being pushed back to 2011 for a big Muppet marketing push to coincide with the movie.

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They always have the FIFTH season. And ALL of Muppets Tonight... and they could easily sell single disk best ofs for casual Muppet likers. Three year waits are NO excuse especially since they SAID it was going to happen this year.

They always have the FIFTH season. And ALL of Muppets Tonight... and they could easily sell single disk best ofs for casual Muppet likers. Three year waits are NO excuse especially since they SAID it was going to happen this year.

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And they can release new and improved editions of the Muppet movies on DVD. And a boxed set of Muppet specials (maybe a "Tales from Muppetland" set).

They always have the FIFTH season. And ALL of Muppets Tonight... and they could easily sell single disk best ofs for casual Muppet likers. Three year waits are NO excuse especially since they SAID it was going to happen this year.

At least we tried.

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Sorry, but is it New Year's already? Because as far as I'm aware "this year" hasn't finished yet.

Ladies & Gents, most of you are going to have to be patient and wait. I'm sure Buena Vista Entertainment will be releasing the remaining seasons in due course.

Sorry, but is it New Year's already? Because as far as I'm aware "this year" hasn't finished yet.

Ladies & Gents, most of you are going to have to be patient and wait. I'm sure Buena Vista Entertainment will be releasing the remaining seasons in due course.

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TMS season 4 was announced for this year by Disney executives at D23 last year so that’s why members seem so anxious. It isn’t that we’re merely impatient.

Fall is the busiest time for season sets here in the US. There’s lots of competition from new releases of active programs and they all pour out on the market at once so it would be strange for the Muppets to come out in the third quarter. Also, pre-orders are usually announced at least 3 months before release date. Sure, it's not New Year's yet, but it's becoming less and less likely that this season will come out in 2010 as planned.

This time around might not be a rights issue either. Word is that many Muppet things have been delayed for next year's Muppet movie push. I didn't think season 4 would be part of that, but maybe so. If that's the plan, then it could be another year before season 4 comes out.

It’s really anyone’s guess, but I think the folk in this thread have acted responsibly by inquiring at the source. What’s wrong with that? It's not about patience, we're inquiring about the announcement made by BV Home Video. There should have been some sort of nibble by now.

TMS season 4 was announced for this year by Disney executives at D23 last year so that’s why members seem so anxious. It isn’t that we’re merely impatient.

Fall is the busiest time for season sets here in the US. There’s lots of competition from new releases of active programs and they all pour out on the market at once so it would be strange for the Muppets to come out in the third quarter. Also, pre-orders are usually announced at least 3 months before release date. Sure, it's not New Year's yet, but it's becoming less and less likely that this season will come out in 2010 as planned.

This time around might not be a rights issue either. Word is that many Muppet things have been delayed for next year's Muppet movie push. I didn't think season 4 would be part of that, but maybe so. If that's the plan, then it could be another year before season 4 comes out.

It’s really anyone’s guess, but I think the folk in this thread have acted responsibly by inquiring at the source. What’s wrong with that? It's not about patience, we're inquiring about the announcement made by BV Home Video. There should have been some sort of nibble by now.

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Plus, patience is being able to wait a REASONABLE amount of time. Remember when the Fraggle DVD's first came out we had almost a year in advance knowledge of exactly when they came out, a long list of special features, and everything else to expect. It's August... even if this were to come out on Dec 31st, we would have known it by now... and when you say "expect season 4 in 2010" you should at LEAST have a rough estimate of when to expect it. What quarter is it going to come out at least, not even what month.

Now, we've waited over 2 years for the last volume, and if it was some sort of grand plan to hold over a season for a massive relaunch, it wasn't a very good one for fans. There are, again, 2 more seasons, Muppets Tonight, rereleases of movies in Super special editions (like Disney hasn't done that before), and prospects of smaller, single disk releases that could very well hype the movie back up. Why, even a complete series release after all 5 seasons have been released with a special extra disk.

If they're holding out for the film to start shooting, that's one thing. We get a nice bonus feature behind the scenes sneak peak. Even if we have to wait for them to make a teaser. But they could at LEAST tell us that. Last time, we had someone that had access to someone on the inside who told us every single detail, especially bonus features they couldn't get the rights to. Now, we're just sitting on our thumbs waiting for news that doesn't arrive fast enough.

If they indeed hold this over a third year for the movie, that's beyond annoying and frustrating. Again, season 5, Muppets Tonight. They'd work just as good.

And above all, if there's some garbage about retail, I agree that Fall's a busy time... but the problem is, again, The Real House Hos of Wherever City, Gordon Ramsey screams at people in a British accent, and Food Network's Celebrity Chef goes around and eats things at Restaurants vol 98. They're FAR too much oversaturization there. No wonder why no one buys DVD's anymore. The new shiny garbage has to sit at the top of the pile and beloved classics that are getting a big time movie have to wait for shelf space.

That said, if there is some annoying rights glitch somewhere, forget the song. Forget the episode. Just release the thing already.

This is not only in reference to S4 TMS specifically, but the earlier comment that Disney's holding other stuff back for the movie push.

I can understand and support that to an extent, but while i think a lot of Disney's Muppet relaunch has been handled well, i do think that now they're overdoing it. They need to keep the momentum going...by putting the vast majority of their eggs in the 2011 basket, there's too much of a lull right now. As others have stated, it's just silly to wait til the movie for TMS S4 because they could get TMS S5 out at that time - or any other number of Muppet DVDs.

It just seems there's been all this wonderful hard work and careful planning done in the relaunch but now it's all grinded to a halt because they're taking too big a break from the spotlight before the Big Saturation. It needs to keep going, not start-stop, start-stop - we've seen THAT routine numerous times since 1989 and know how well that works by now.

So instead of TMS S4, what do we have? The Cat Cora internet cooking show. Not that it's not without its strengths but that doesn't even come close to where they need to be right now.

Plus, given that season five was the final episode of TMS, it would make more sense to want to aim for having that set ready to go for around Movie Time. Get S4 out now so fans are satisfied and they're kept in the spotlight. And that still allows a year for the next set so they're not too close together. With the release of S5, there can also be the hype and hooplah that comes with "all the TMS episodes now out on disc" and have a full series set released as well. (Normally i'm not a fan of a full series set having other extras that the devoted fans who bought the original individual sets missed out on but given how there's opportunity to correct some flaws with earlier sets, like trying to get the full season one episodes without the cuts or other should-have-been no-brainers like the entire set of original promos or the original J Prowse/C Stevens eps i would support these on a 120 episode box set)

I still am a supporter of Disney's handling of the Muppets overall (after really having to be won over) but this lull period is my first real major criticism and concern with their technique.

I can understand and support that to an extent, but while i think a lot of Disney's Muppet relaunch has been handled well, i do think that now they're overdoing it. They need to keep the momentum going...by putting the vast majority of their eggs in the 2011 basket, there's too much of a lull right now. As others have stated, it's just silly to wait til the movie for TMS S4 because they could get TMS S5 out at that time - or any other number of Muppet DVDs.

It just seems there's been all this wonderful hard work and careful planning done in the relaunch but now it's all grinded to a halt because they're taking too big a break from the spotlight before the Big Saturation. It needs to keep going, not start-stop, start-stop - we've seen THAT routine numerous times since 1989 and know how well that works by now.

So instead of TMS S4, what do we have? The Cat Cora internet cooking show. Not that it's not without its strengths but that doesn't even come close to where they need to be right now.

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Exactly. There's a difference with being strategic and being overly cautious. This isn't strategic at all. Now, unless they really are hard pressed to put movie BTS or promos on the set as a bonus, or they're having a bugaboo with some greedyguts estate/song license owner there really is no other excuse for holding over something that was delayed 2 years for no particular reason yet another year. There is nothing us collectors hate more than unfinished sets or sets with 2+year long waits for further seasons. This isn't a toy line, a bunch of plushes, or any little gewgaw that would benefit from being released with movie merch... this is a season of a TV show that SHOULD have been finished by now.

We didn't see it in 2009 when we were supposed to because 2010 was "the Year of the Muppets". Now we're not going to see it until 2011 because that's when the movie comes out, and season 5 is held hostage for lord knows when and MT is in doubt. I don't see how that's going to help any push at all. Unlike FR, we are definitely going to get this movie, but as I said, since the movie didn't happen as fast as it was rumored, Hit dropped the license (they were only in it for the movie) and we got a rushed complete series set without a season 4 single release. That's a bad business practice. This seems like the same thing's happening here, though... again... we're getting the movie.

Really... I agree Cat Cora's Cooking show shouldn't be the only major thing we're getting this year. Filming the movie will take a decent chunk of time, leading to less projects and less virals. You want something to keep the push fluid. A DVD release of a TV series is the best way to get it all out. Sure, the market is flooded with bad cable shows and "was there really a demand?" cult hits with a very small cult, but the Muppet Show season sets were always a decent seller. Even cut up season 1.

Come on, Disney... you don't want to sour anyone's thoughts about the buyout again. You've come a long way since then.

This is not only in reference to S4 TMS specifically, but the earlier comment that Disney's holding other stuff back for the movie push.

I can understand and support that to an extent, but while i think a lot of Disney's Muppet relaunch has been handled well, i do think that now they're overdoing it. They need to keep the momentum going...by putting the vast majority of their eggs in the 2011 basket, there's too much of a lull right now. As others have stated, it's just silly to wait til the movie for TMS S4 because they could get TMS S5 out at that time - or any other number of Muppet DVDs.

It just seems there's been all this wonderful hard work and careful planning done in the relaunch but now it's all grinded to a halt because they're taking too big a break from the spotlight before the Big Saturation. It needs to keep going, not start-stop, start-stop - we've seen THAT routine numerous times since 1989 and know how well that works by now.

So instead of TMS S4, what do we have? The Cat Cora internet cooking show. Not that it's not without its strengths but that doesn't even come close to where they need to be right now.

Plus, given that season five was the final episode of TMS, it would make more sense to want to aim for having that set ready to go for around Movie Time. Get S4 out now so fans are satisfied and they're kept in the spotlight. And that still allows a year for the next set so they're not too close together. With the release of S5, there can also be the hype and hooplah that comes with "all the TMS episodes now out on disc" and have a full series set released as well. (Normally i'm not a fan of a full series set having other extras that the devoted fans who bought the original individual sets missed out on but given how there's opportunity to correct some flaws with earlier sets, like trying to get the full season one episodes without the cuts or other should-have-been no-brainers like the entire set of original promos or the original J Prowse/C Stevens eps i would support these on a 120 episode box set)

I still am a supporter of Disney's handling of the Muppets overall (after really having to be won over) but this lull period is my first real major criticism and concern with their technique.

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You always seem to know what to say D.W. I know Disney is doing their best right now, but hopefully all of this doesn't become too big for them to handle. As Brian Henson once said, it's all about careful planning and care. I believe that we will se the final two seasons out at some point, but it's all a matter of seeing what is going to happen.

For those Muppet Show lovers that have been collecting the DVD's of each
season, please see the below response I received from Walt Disney
World's marketing department in regards to the release dates for the
last 2 seasons (4 and 5).

..."Thank you for your e-mail regarding DVD release dates for the last two seasons of THE MUPPET SHOW. We appreciate your interest.

Unfortunately, there are no release dates scheduled for these titles at this time. We will forward your comments to our marketing department to take into consideration when planning future release schedules.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email. You may also contact us at 800 723-4763 (Canada: 888 877-2843), Monday 9:30-7:30 and Tuesday through Friday 9:30-6:30 CST."

PLEASE call and let your VOICE BE HEARD! GIVE US THE LAST 2 SEASONS OF THE MUPPET SHOW ON DVD!

This is nothing short of ridiculous. Even if they are holding the last 2 seasons hostage for movie marketing reasons, not even having a rough estimate is disturbing. I would hate to see the last 2 seasons go the way of roughly everything else they released on DVD, half sssed, half releases of Disney Afternoon shows... half series here and there, incomplete the Ticks... Disney SERIOUSLY needs to think about outsourcing these releases to some other company. They clearly want nothing to do with the TV show on DVD market. And the worst part is, they have a big big relaunch they are dying to do, and we're still going to have to wait forever for them to want to sell DVD box sets that actually SOLD solidly. The 35 different shows about Cakes get better DVD release treatment. We shouldn't even have 1 show about cakes.

The 35 different shows about Cakes get better DVD release treatment. We shouldn't even have 1 show about cakes.

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Lol, oh my gosh that really had me laughing! Did you know there's a new one coming out? Some sort of competition. DUMB!

I'm just really hopeful that they are waiting to release them a little closer to the film. Maybe Season 4 early summer 2011, and then Season 5 right before Christmas. Then The Muppet Babies when "The Muppets" is released on bluray/dvd.

Huh? Huh?

Or they could do us all a HUGE favor and release 'em RIGHT NOW! Along with the remaining Disney Afternoon toons, naturally!

Maybe either ThePrawnCracker at The Muppet Mindset or Steve Swanson of The MuppetCast could at least try to get new interviews with Lyelle Brier so they can ask her why TMS Seasons 4 and 5 are taking longer than previously to get released on DVD (ie: confirm if they still have music copyrights to clear, etc.).

Hope Ryan and/or Steve will at least take this request into consideration, so we can all be able to relax and chill out.

I'm just really hopeful that they are waiting to release them a little closer to the film. Maybe Season 4 early summer 2011, and then Season 5 right before Christmas. Then The Muppet Babies when "The Muppets" is released on bluray/dvd.

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Muppet Babies is a don't hold your breath situation. Other than the obvious rights snafu (I'm sure they could get Star Wars and Indie, as Disney has a relationship with Lucas, but you also have to remember Henson had a semipartnership with Columbia at the time), I think they want to move away from any of the side projects for the time being. We're just going to see Muppet Show related stuff for a while. With Pepe in there too. A Muppet Babies line of Toddler clothes and acessories should be considered... but as for now, I think focusing on The Muppets is enough.

Maybe either ThePrawnCracker at The Muppet Mindset or Steve Swanson of The MuppetCast could at least try to get new interviews with Lyelle Brier so they can ask her why TMS Seasons 4 and 5 are taking longer than previously to get released on DVD (ie: confirm if they still have music copyrights to clear, etc.).

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I want someone... SOMEONE to get in touch with someone else. Not some sort of form letter. I'm sure if you asked Disney about bacon they'd say:
"Thank you for your e-mail regarding Bacon. We appreciate your interest.

Unfortunately, there are no release dates scheduled for these titles at
this time. We will forward your comments to our marketing department to
take into consideration when planning future release schedules.

Form letter.

Yet, I hope the message goes out. This isn't a case of "oh well, we released part of a series, and we had no plans for any others..." They announced a year ago that this was on it's way the next (being this) year. It's not like some title that should and could have vanished... they had plans drawn up to release it. I just wanna know what the exact hold up is, and if it's movie related.